Francis X. Rocca
Francis X. Rocca is an author at Religion News Service.
All Stories by Francis X. Rocca
Whose conscience is cleanest?
By Francis X. Rocca — August 17, 2009
Tired of charges that Pope Pius XII did not do or say as much as possible to stop the Holocaust, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano argues that the American and British governments were indifferent to the plight of Europe’s Jews long after they learned of the Nazis’ genocidal plans. Pope Pius, on the other hand, […]
All in the family
By Francis X. Rocca — August 6, 2009
Spanish movie director Pedro Almodóvar thinks Pope Benedict XVI has an outdated notion of the family. “Why doesn’t the Pope take a walk outside the Vatican and look at what a family means today?” Almodóvar told Germany’s Die Zeit. “For more than 20 years, I have made films in which a family is a group […]
“Friendship is not a commodity”
By Francis X. Rocca — August 4, 2009
The Archbishop of Westminster has some thoughtful — and highly debatable — comments about the loss of face-to-face communication in the age of Facebook.
White smoke or black?
By Francis X. Rocca — July 30, 2009
This Saturday at his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, 15 miles southeast of Rome, Pope Benedict will receive participants in the FINA world swimming championships, presumably including Michael Phelps. Given Phelps’ now-notorious form of off-duty recreation, some observers may take this as the latest evidence that Benedict is truly a “green pontiff.” But anyone who […]
The gospel according to Gekko
By Francis X. Rocca — July 28, 2009
Who says the Holy See isn’t hip to pop culture? It just takes them a couple of decades to catch up. In a speech to the Italian Senate today, the Vatican’s Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone invoked Oliver Stone’s Wall Street — specifically, Gordon Gekko’s “greed is good” speech — as part of his […]
Pope Benedict the dictator
By Francis X. Rocca — July 23, 2009
“With his right hand immobilized in a cast, Pope Benedict XVI is using a voice recorder to put down his thoughts and ideas,” CNS reports from the site of the pontiff’s vacation digs in northwestern Italy. Let’s hope that doesn’t push Benedict’s admirably clear prose style in the direction of the late Henry James. The […]
Nice try, Sister
By Francis X. Rocca — July 21, 2009
Here’s a novel excuse to try the next time the cops stop you for speeding.
Wilde about Oscar
By Francis X. Rocca — July 20, 2009
A number of outlets have reported on an enthusiastic article about Oscar Wilde that appeared last week in the official Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. The piece is consistent with increased coverage of secular culture under L’Osservatore‘s current editor Giovanni Maria Vian. But it really shouldn’t seem incongruous to find the “sublime Oscar,” as my former […]
The Buonarroti Code?
By Francis X. Rocca — July 18, 2009
Combine the Vatican and Italian Renaissance painters and you’ve automatically got mystery and controversy, it seems. Michelangelo’s recently restored fresco of the Crucifixion of St. Peter in the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel has been drawing press attention for more than its beauty. First came speculation that Michelangelo had included a self-portrait among the crowd of figures […]
Hospital patience
By Francis X. Rocca — July 18, 2009
Italy is a country where people cut in line even at Holy Communion (believe me). So Italians must consider it nothing short of saintly that Pope Benedict, in the hospital today for treatment of his fractured wrist, actually let people step ahead of him for treatment.
It’s all in the wrist
By Francis X. Rocca — July 17, 2009
After a brief operation with local anesthetic, Pope Benedict is reportedly ready to go back to his vacation digs in northwestern Italy. Benedict slipped and fell during the night, slightly fracturing his right wrist. Looks like the right-handed pope might have to take a break from writing. At least two big works from his pen […]
Increasingly wild about Harry
By Francis X. Rocca — July 14, 2009
Much ado in the press today about a favorable review of the latest Harry Potter film in the Vatican’s official newspaper — notwithstanding Pope Benedict’s well-known reservations about the J. K. Rowling series. But as RNS readers know, L’Osservatore Romano had already published praise for the Potter franchise (albeit alongside another article alleging a darker […]
The won true faith
By Francis X. Rocca — July 6, 2009
Einstein said God does not play dice; but does He play Jeopardy? From Turkey, a game show on which an inter-religious panel of clerics compete to turn atheists into believers. “The prize for the converts? A trip to a holy site of the winner’s newfound religion: Muslims will go to Mecca, Christians to the Vatican, […]
How to help udders
By Francis X. Rocca — June 24, 2009
The Wall Street Journal reports that a community of Hare Krishnas in West Virginia makes it possible to adopt a cow, and thereby save it from slaughter, for as little as $51 a month, photos and updates included. But as the image at left indicates, many of the group’s neighbors have other ideas about the […]
Vatican firewall
By Francis X. Rocca — June 16, 2009
The Vatican likes Facebook — it just doesn’t like its employees wasting time on it.
